Lifting and tipping device

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a lifting and tipping device for emptying containers into the loading opening of a collecting container, especially for emptying refuse containers ( 50 ) into the collecting container ( 12 ) of a refuse truck ( 10 ). The lifting and tipping device ( 5 ) has a swivel drive device ( 32 ) in the area of the loading opening ( 14 ) to which at least one swivel arm ( 38 ) with a device ( 46 ) for receiving a container is connected with a non-positive fit. The aim of the invention is to provide a lifting and tipping device ( 5   a,    5   b ) which is as compact as possible and in which the device ( 46 ) for receiving a container moves substantially from the bottom upwards without a significant horizontal component when it take hold of the refuse container ( 50 ). To this end the invention provides for the swivel drive device ( 32 ) to be fixed to a slide ( 60 ) guided in at least one vertical rail ( 16 ), and for at least a support lever and connecting rod which transform the rotation of the swivel drive device ( 32 ), during a simultaneous swivel movement of the swivel arm ( 38 ), into a lifting movement of the slide ( 60 ) which stops at a defined height of lift. The slide ( 60 ) can be locked in relation to the rail ( 16 ) at the defined height of lift.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a lifting and tipping device for emptyingcontainers into the loading opening of a collecting container,particularly for emptying refuse containers into the collectingcontainer of a refuse truck, with a swivel drive device arranged in thearea of the loading opening, to which at least one swivel arm with adevice for receiving a container is connected with a non-positive fit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Such a lifting and tipping device is known from EP 0 358 046 B1. Theswivel arm forms part of an articulated quadrangle comprising a liftingand tipping frame, the swivel arm, a lower guide rod and a support arm.The driving mechanism for the lifting and tipping device is a swiveldrive device with a coaxial upper and lower cylinder piston arrangementand a rack-and-pinion gear with drive shaft actuated by the two cylinderpiston arrangements therebetween. The swivel arm is attached to thedrive shaft in a non-positive fit. The support arm is mounted so as tobe freely rotatable on the drive shaft and is thus coaxial thereto. Theswivel arm device and the articulated quadrangle form a closed unitmounted in the area of the loading opening.

When the swivel drive device is actuated, the swivel arm is swung upwardcausing the articulated quadrangle to open up into a rectangle. To fixthe opened articulated quadrangle, an additional limit device isprovided. The opening of the articulated quadrangle is combined with awide swivel movement of the container receiving device. As aconsequence, under some circumstances, the container to be picked up maybe pushed away considerably from the lifting and tipping device beforethe rim of the container is grasped from underneath. This problem occursespecially if the container is particularly high. On sloping terrain therefuse container may, under some circumstances, roll away. Since theswivel drive device is fixed on the collecting container and itself doesnot execute a lifting movement, the entire lifting and swivel movementfor tipping the refuse container into the opening is executed by thearticulated quadrangle, which requires correspondingly long swivel arms.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the invention to create a more compact lifting andtipping device in which the container receiving device, as it grasps therefuse container, moves essentially from bottom to top without anappreciable horizontal component.

This object is attained by a lifting and tipping device in which theswivel drive device is fixed to a slide that is guided in asubstantially vertical rail. Means are provided to transform therotation of the swivel drive device, during a simultaneous swivelmovement of the swivel arm, into a lifting movement of the slide, whichstops at a defined height of lift. The slide can be locked in relationto the rail at the defined height of lift.

The lifting and tipping device according to the invention can be mountedeither on the side of the refuse truck (side loader) or at the rear(rear loader). Furthermore, the lifting and tipping device can be asingle device, or two lifting and tipping devices can be arranged sideby side and mounted on a common slide, or each on its own slide, so thatthey can be actuated independently of one another. The slide or slidesmay also be guided in two lateral rails, which increases the stabilityof the entire device.

The advantage of the lifting and tipping device is that the swivel drivedevice is automatically raised when actuated. As a result, the swivelarm and thus also the container receiving device execute a combinedlifting and swiveling movement, so that the swivel arm can be extremelyshort. Due to the short swivel arm, the container receiving device isonly a few centimeters away from the swivel drive device. This liftingand tipping device makes it possible securely to grasp containers ofvarious heights, without the container being pushed away from thelifting and tipping device by the swivel movement of the containerreceiving device.

After the refuse container has been grasped and a defined height of liftis reached, the lifting movement is terminated by locking the slide inrelation to the rail and only the swiveling movement of the swivel drivedevice continues to tip the refuse container into the loading opening.The movement of the swivel drive device need not be interrupted. Thisensures a continuous process without any delays.

After emptying, the swivel drive device is put in reverse. When itreaches a defined swivel position, the lock is canceled, so that alowering motion is added to the swivel motion until the containerreaches the ground and the container receiving device detaches from thecontainer rim or a defined end position is reached.

According to a preferred embodiment, the means for transforming therotation of the swivel drive device, during a simultaneous swivelmovement of the swivel arm, into a lifting movement of the slide whichstops at a defined height of lift, may comprise a support lever and aconnecting rod. The connecting rod on the one hand is coupledeccentrically to the swivel drive device and on the other hand to thesupport lever, which in turn is coupled to the slide and directly orindirectly to the collecting container.

The connecting rod is preferably arranged on the swivel drive device insuch a way that it moves downward in relation to the swivel drive deviceas the container receiving device is swiveled.

The eccentric arrangement of the connecting rod is preferably selectedso that in the lowered position, the coupling point of the connectingrod on the swivel drive device is approximately at the same height asthe swivel axis of the swivel drive device. This coupling point islocated between the swivel drive device and the collecting container tocreate a compact arrangement.

When the swivel drive device is actuated, this coupling point movesdownward so as to press the connecting rod downward. Since theconnecting rod is simultaneously supported against the support lever,the swivel drive device is lifted because the slide is shifted along therail.

The support lever is preferably an angle lever extending underneath theslide in the direction of the collecting container where it is directlyor indirectly coupled to a stationary component.

The angle lever is preferably connected with the collecting containervia a link element to permit limited horizontal mobility.

Advantageously, the rotary axes passing through the coupling points ofsupport lever and connecting rod are arranged parallel to the swivelaxis of the swivel drive device.

The support lever is furthermore advantageously coupled to a holdingelement fixed to the slide and extending underneath the swivel drivedevice from the slide up to in front of the swivel drive device. Thissimultaneously creates a connection between angle lever and slide sothat the lifting movement can be executed in conjunction with theconnecting rod. The connecting rod is arranged adjacent to the couplingpoint of the angle lever on the holding element. The two coupling pointsare located at the free end of an arm of the angle lever.

The coupling point of the connecting rod on the angle lever ispreferably located between the coupling point of the angle lever withthe holding element and the slide. With the movement of the connectingrod, a simultaneous tipping movement of the angle lever is executed,which supports the lifting movement of the slide.

To limit the lifting movement, a locking mechanism that can be actuatedby the connecting rod upon reaching a defined height of lift is arrangedon the slide. This locking mechanism is preferably actuated when thecoupling point of the connecting rod is approximately below the swivelaxis of the swivel drive device. The locking mechanism preferably has aspring-loaded bolt that engages with an opening of a locking platearranged on the rail at the predefined height of lift.

Since, as the swivel movement of the swivel drive device continues, theconnecting rod also moves, while a further lifting movement is at thesame time prevented by the lock, the connecting rod is extended. Thus,the connecting rod is preferably telescopic.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be explained ingreater detail with reference to the drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of the lifting and tipping device prior to pickingup the refuse container,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the lifting and tipping device with picked-uprefuse container,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of two side-by-side tipping devices intheir lowered position,

FIGS. 4+5 are side views of the tipping device in various swivel andlifting positions to illustrate the motion sequence,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the locking mechanism of the lock,

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the locking mechanism in its lockedstate, and

FIGS. 8+9 are top views of the locking mechanism according to FIGS. 6and 7;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 depicts the rear of a refuse truck 10 with a collecting container12 on which a lifting and tipping device 5 is arranged in the area ofthe loading opening (14). The lifting and tipping device 5 has a swiveldrive device 32 on which a swivel arm 38 with a container receivingdevice 46 in the form of a receiving ridge is arranged. The lifting andtipping device 5 has a slide 60, which is guided in two vertical rails16 arranged on either side adjacent to the loading opening 14. Furthercomponents of the lifting and tipping device 5 are the holding element20 fixed to the slide, the support lever 22 and the connecting rod 42.The support lever 22 is connected via a link element 26 with a crossstrut 18, which is fixed to the collecting container 12. The details ofthe lifting and tipping device 5 will be explained in connection withFIGS. 3-9.

FIG. 1 depicts the lifting and tipping device 5 in its lowered position.This figure also shows a refuse container 50 to be emptied, with areceiving rim 48, which the container receiving device 46 grasps fromunderneath. The container 50 has a lid 52 that can be swung about axis54 to open it.

FIG. 2 depicts the same lifting and tipping device 5 in its raisedposition when the defined height of lift has already been reached.

FIG. 3 shows two side-by-side lifting and tipping devices 5 a, 5 b. Atthe lateral edge of the loading opening 14, two vertical rails 16 arearranged in which the slide 60 is guided so as to be verticallydisplaceable. On this common slide 60, two swivel drive units 32 arecoaxially arranged side by side. Each swivel drive device 32 has ahousing 34 and a swivel shaft 36, on each of which is arranged a swivelarm 38 with container receiving device 46. On each swivel drive device32 or swivel arm 38 a connecting rod 42 is coupled at point 40. In thelower area of each of the lifting and tipping devices 5 a,b thesupporting levers 22 are provided in the form of angle levers 23, whichare coupled behind the rear wall 63 of the slide 60 to the truck 10 orthe collecting container 12 (not shown). At the front end, the arm ofthe angle lever 23 widens so that two coupling points 24 and 44 can beprovided. The connecting rod 42 is coupled at coupling point 44 and theangle lever 23 is coupled to the holding element 20 at coupling point24. The holding element in addition carries the support element 47against which the container wall rests during the emptying process. Theholding element 20 is a plate that is fixed to the rear wall 63 of theslide 60. The rotary axes passing through the coupling points 40, 44, 24lie parallel to the rotary axis of the two swivel shafts 36. The slide60, adjacent to the respective rail 16, has a vertically oriented plate66 behind which a locking mechanism 100 is arranged, which will beexplained in greater detail in connection with FIGS. 6 to 9.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the lifting and tipping device 5 in a side view toillustrate the different motion positions. The swivel arm 38 is short,so that the container receiving device 46 is arranged closely to theswivel drive device 32 to create an overall compact lifting and tippingdevice 5. FIG. 4a shows the lifting and tipping device 5 in its loweredposition, with the container receiving device 46 swung down. It may beclearly seen that in this position the coupling point 40 of theconnecting rod 42 is at the same height as the swivel axis of the swivelshaft 36 of the swivel drive device 32.

The lower coupling point 44 of the connecting rod 42 is about verticallybelow the swivel shaft 36. This figure also shows that the angle lever23 is flexibly coupled at coupling point 28 with plate 30, which ismounted to truck 10 via a link element 26.

The holding element 20 has a substantially L-shaped form. The free endof the short arm extending rearward has a coupling point 24 of anglelever 23.

After the swivel drive device 32 is set into motion, the swivel arm 38is swiveled in clockwise direction 58. Due to the eccentric arrangementof the connecting rod 42, the connecting rod is pushed downward, whilethe angle lever 23 swings slightly toward the rear and the slide 60 isthereby simultaneously moved upward together with the swivel drivedevice 32.

As may be seen from FIG. 4c and 4 d, this movement continues until theconnecting rod 42 is vertically aligned and the coupling point 44 isvertically below the swivel shaft 36. The angle lever 23 is increasinglyrotated in direction 58. In this position the container 50 has alreadybeen picked up and the slide 60 is just before reaching the definedheight of lift.

In FIG. 5a, the defined height of lift has been reached and locking withthe rail 16, which will be further explained below, is complete. In FIG.5b, the swivel movement of the swivel drive device 32 continues, whichcauses the container to be tipped into the loading opening 14. Due tothe lock, the lower coupling point 44 of the connecting rod 42 remainsstationary so that the connecting rod, which is designed as atelescoping rod, is extended. This movement continues, until the finaltipping position is reached as shown in FIG. 5d. At this moment, theconnecting rod 42 is completely extended. Due to the restoring forcewithin the connecting rod 42, the swivel drive device 32 is retractedagain after reaching the tipping position and the setting down processbegins.

FIG. 6 is a magnified representation of the locking mechanism 100. Theleft part of FIG. 6 shows the holding element 20 in the form of a plate62 to which only the connecting rod 42 is coupled while the angle lever23 has been omitted for the sake of clarity. A bolt 68 held by twobearing blocks 72 and 70 is arranged in vertical direction on holdingelement 20. Between the bearing blocks 70, 72 there is a rotatabletubular section 74 on which a vane 76 is disposed. Furthermore, a swivellever 78 connected with a locking bolt 82 via a connecting lever 80 isarranged on this tubular section 74 (as shown in FIG. 7). Bolt 82 issupported in the bearing openings 84, 86 of plates 64, 66 so that it ishorizontally displaceable. The position shown in FIG. 6 is brought aboutby the reset spring 92, which is fixed by pin 94. During the swivelmovement of the swivel drive device 32, the alignment of the connectingrod 42 is continuously changed, and when the defined height of lift isreached, the connecting rod 42 presses against vane 46 causing bolt 82to be pushed. This is shown in FIG. 7, where a bolt plate 95 with anoblong hole 88 is arranged on rail 16, so that the bolt 82 can engagetherewith to lock the slide 60 in relation to the rail 16.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are top views of the arrangements shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

5, 5 a 5 b lifting and tipping device

10 refuse truck

12 collecting container

14 loading opening

16 rail

18 cross strut

20 holding element

22 support lever

23 angle lever

24 coupling point of angle lever on holding element

26 link element

28 coupling point of link element

30 plate

32 swivel drive device

34 housing of swivel drive device

36 swivel shaft

38 swivel arm

40 coupling point of connecting rod

42 telescopic connecting rod

44 coupling point of connecting rod on support lever

46 container receiving device

47 support element

48 receiving rim of refuse container

50 refuse container

52 lid of refuse container

54 swivel axis of lid

56 swivel direction of angle lever

58 swivel direction of swivel arm

60 slide

62 plate

63 rear wall

64 side plate

66 side plate

68 pin

70 bearing block

72 bearing block

74 tubular section

76 vane

78 swivel lever

80 connecting lever

82 locking bolt

84 bearing opening

86 bearing opening

88 oblong hole

92 spring

94 pin

95 bolt plate

100 locking mechanism

What is claimed is:
 1. A lifting and tipping device for emptyingcontainers into a loading opening of a collecting container of a refusetruck, comprising: a swivel drive device adapted to be connected to saidtruck in an area of the loading opening, to which at least one swivelarm with a container receiving device is operatively connected, whereinthe swivel drive device is fixed to a slide guided in at least onevertical rail, wherein a means operatively connected to the swivel armis provided which transforms a rotation of the swivel drive device,during a simultaneous swivel movement of the swivel drive device by theswivel arm, into a lifting movement of the slide which stops at adefined height of lift, wherein the slide is locked by a lockingmechanism in relation to the rail at the defined height of lift, andwherein after locking of the slide, the swivel movement of the swiveldrive device is continued to tip the container.
 2. A device as claimedin claim 1, wherein said means comprises a support lever and aconnecting rod, wherein said connecting rod is coupled eccentrically tothe swivel drive device and to the support lever, which in turn iscoupled with the slide as well as directly or indirectly with thecollecting container.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein thesupport lever is an angle lever that extends underneath the slide in thedirection of the collecting container.
 4. A device as claimed in claim3, wherein the angle lever is connected via a link element with thecollecting container.
 5. A device as claimed in claim 4, wherein thesupport lever and the connecting rod have rotary axes, which passthrough coupling points, and are arranged parallel to a swivel axis ofthe swivel drive device.
 6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein thesupport lever is coupled with a holding element which is fixed to theslide and extends underneath the swivel drive device from the slide toin front of the swivel drive device.
 7. A device as claimed in claim 6,wherein the coupling point of the connecting rod is located on the anglelever between the coupling point of the angle lever with the holdingelement and the slide.
 8. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein theconnecting rod is arranged on the swivel drive device in such a way thatit moves downward in relation to the swivel drive device as thecontainer receiving device swivels.
 9. A device as claimed in claim 2,wherein a locking mechanism is arranged on the slide which can beactuated by the connecting rod.
 10. A device as claimed in claim 9,wherein the locking mechanism has a spring-loaded bolt that engages withan opening of a bolt plate arranged on the rail at the defined height oflift.
 11. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the connecting rod istelescopic.